Picks & Pecks Editorial: Solano's mixed marks on report cards

The 2012 report card by the nonpartisan advocacy organization Children Now shows Solano County mostly in the middle when it comes to kids' health and well-being. As compared to other California counties on 28 measurements, Solano scored in the middle on 17 and better than average on five, including the percentage of children who have a regular source of health care (95 percent) and the number who had visited a dentist in the last year (91 percent).

On the other hand, Solano scored below average in six categories, the most troubling of which may be the percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds who attend preschool: 42 percent. The preschool numbers, which are also broken down by race, show African-American (46 percent) and "other" (49 percent) children as most likely to be enrolled and white children (39 percent) the least likely. The report also notes that Solano children's well-being is improving, with the county scoring better in 14 categories than it had previously. That's worth a pick, as is the report itself.

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Gasoline prices have everyone squawking -- including The Rooster. A peck.

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Where in the world is the campaign for Solano Community College's Measure Q? And what does it say that the college faculty this week sponsored a voter registration drive and campus forum on statewide ballot measures but not, according to its press release, on the local bond? A peck.

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What to make of the 2012 Academic Performance Index (API) scores -- considered by many to be California public schools' report card? State Superintendent Tom Torlakson said that, for the first time, more than half of California's schools (53 percent) scored at or above the targeted 800 mark. (A pick.) Travis Unified School District had an even better percentage: Only one of its eight schools is under the mark, and it's a school that handles struggling students. (A pick.) Vacaville, Dixon and Fairfield-Unified school districts still have more schools under the target than over it (a peck), yet most schools in those districts improved their scores again this year (a pick). And Fairfield even had three schools with scores over the 900 mark. (A pick.)

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After an amazing come-from-behind, bottom-of-the-ninth victory on Wednesday, the Oakland Athletics lost their bid for a shot at the World Series on Thursday, also scrapping any hopes for a Bay Bridge series. San Francisco at least clinched its division series -- and now we're all Giants fans. A pick.